VZCZCXRO4779
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2027 3521253
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 181253Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9598
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 002027 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS, AF/SPG 
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SU EG
SUBJECT: BLASPHEMY AT THE KHARTOUM INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) In a twist on the recent "teddy bear scandal" that saw a 
British schoolteacher sentenced to prison, pardoned by the President 
and ultimately expelled from Sudan, two Egyptian booksellers were 
convicted of insulting Islam by distributing a book allegedly 
critical of the prophet Mohammad's wife Aisha. The book, entitled 
"The Mother of the Faithful Eats Her Children," was on display last 
week at the Khartoum International Book Fair. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On December 11, Sudanese security forces arrested the two 
men (the forces supposedly accompanied by members of the Islamic 
fundamentalist group Ansar al-Sunna), who were in Khartoum 
representing the well-known Egyptian publishing house al-Madbouli. 
In one of the speedier trials in Sudanese judicial history, the men 
were found guilty five days later and sentenced to six months in 
prison. The men were convicted under the same statute as Ms. Gillian 
Gibbons, the British schoolteacher. The court in its ruling stated 
that the men would "be an example to anyone who wishes to insult the 
Almighty." Three Sudanese book fair employees who were also detained 
were acquitted. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Several other titles were also confiscated at the book 
fair, including one entitled "Darfur: A History of War and 
Genocide," Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz's "Children of Our Quarter" 
and a set of books on Wahhabism (apparently found objectionable by 
the Saudi cultural attach). At last year's fair, all the Iranian 
book stalls were shut down and their representatives sent back to 
Teheran. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In contrast to Ms. Gibbons' case, there have been no street 
protests or demonstrators calling for the two men to be put to 
death. While the case has been covered by local media, it has not 
stimulated the same kind of public outcry nor generated potentially 
embarrassing international exposure. The two men received the 
maximum sentence possible under the law, according to the Egyptian 
Deputy Chief of Mission; the Egyptian Embassy has protested their 
sentence and has filed an appeal. 
 
POWERS